The poll also looked at a possible matchup between Coleman and attorney Mike Ciresi, who is also expected to seek the DFL nomination. Coleman also wins that match by a margin of 57 to 34.

Coleman is a popular Senator. That’s the reality. But this is far from over. Al’s star status will be a big factor, and when he wants to he can make his points succinctly and eloquently, regardless of any partisan hackery he’s engaged in over the past few years.

Like, you know, this…

Franken has had little good to say about his potential opponent. In his latest book, “The Truth (with jokes),” he criticized Coleman in not-so-flattering terms for his former chairmanship of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

“The subcommittee’s chairman, Minnesota Republican Norman Coleman, is one of the administration’s leading butt boys,” Franken wrote. “He hasn’t held a single hearing on postwar corruption.”

Butt boys…I wonder if that’s going to come up in the debates?

So yes, Air America will hurt him. His books will hurt him. And I don’t know that he’ll be able to overcome that record. And since I’m fairly sure he won’t apologize for many of the things he’s said on air and in print, the cards are stacked against him.